The Temple Mount

Either of two temples that were the
centre of worship and national identity in ancient Israel.

In the early years of the Israelite
kingdom, the Ark of the Covenant was periodically moved about among several
sanctuaries, especially those of Shechem and Shiloh. After King David'scapture
of Jerusalem, however, the Ark was moved to that city. This action joined Israel'smajor
religious object with the monarchy and the city itself into a central symbol
of union of the Israelite tribes. As the site for a future temple, David chose
Mount Moriah, or the Temple Mount, where it was believed Abraham had built the
altar on which to sacrifice his son Isaac.

The First Temple was constructed
during the reign of David's son, Solomon, and completed in 957 BC. Other sanctuaries
retained their religious functions, however, until Josiah (reigned c. 640-609
BC) abolished them and established the Temple of Jerusalem as the only place
of sacrifice in the Kingdom of Judah.

The First Temple was built as an
abode for the Ark and as a place of assembly for the entire people. The building
itself, therefore, was not large, but the courtyard was extensive. The Temple
building faced eastward. It was oblong and consisted of three rooms of equal
width: the porch, or vestibule ('ulam); the main room of religious service,
or Holy Place (hekhal); and the Holy of Holies (devir), the sacred room in which
the Ark rested. A storehouse (yazi'a) surrounded the Temple except on its front
(east) side.

The First Temple contained five altars:
one at the entrance of the Holy of Holies, two others within the building, a
large bronze one before the porch, and a large tiered altar in the courtyard.
A huge bronze bowl, or "sea," in the courtyard was used for the priests' ablutions.

Within the Holy of Holies, two cherubim
of olive wood stood with the Ark; this innermost sanctuary was considered the
dwelling place of the Divine Presence (Shekhina) and could be entered only by
the high priest and only on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).

The Temple suffered at the hands
of Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylonia, who removed the Temple treasures in 604 BC
and 597 BC and totally destroyed the building in 587/586. This destruction and
the deportations of Jews to Babylonia in 586 and 582 were seen as fulfillments
of prophecy and, therefore, strengthened Judaic religious beliefs and awakened
the hope for the reestablishment of the independent Jewish state.

Cyrus II, founder of the Achaemenian
dynasty of Persia and conqueror of Babylonia, in 538 BC issued an order allowing
exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. Work was completed
in 515 BC. There is no known detailed plan of the Second Temple, which was constructed
as a modest version of the original building. It was surrounded by two courtyards
with chambers, gates, and a public square. It did not include the ritual objects
of the First Temple; of special significance was the loss of the Ark itself.
Ritual, however, was elaborate and was conducted by well-organized families
of priests and Levites.

During the Persian and Hellenistic
(4th-3rd century BC) periods, the Temple generally was respected, and in part
subsidized, by Judaea's foreign rulers. Antiochus IV Epiphanes, however, plundered
it in 169 BC and desecrated it in 167 BC by commanding that sacrifices be made
to Zeus on an altar built for him. This final act touched off the Hasmonean
revolt, during which Judas Maccabaeus cleansed and rededicated the Temple; the
event is celebrated in the annual festival of Hanukka.

During the Roman conquest, Pompey
entered (63 BC) the Holy of Holies but left the Temple intact. In 54 BC, however,
Crassus plundered the Temple treasury. Of major importance was the rebuilding
of the Second Temple begun by Herod the Great, king (37 BC-ad 4) of Judaea.

Construction began in 20 BC and lasted
for 46 years. The area of the Temple Mount was doubled and surrounded by a wall
with gates. The Temple was raised, enlarged, and faced with white stone. The
new Temple square served as a gathering place, and its porticoes sheltered merchants
and money changers. A stone fence (soreg) and a rampart (hel) surrounded the
consecrated area forbidden to Gentiles. The Temple proper began, on the east,
with the Court of Women, each side of which had a gate and each corner of which
had a chamber. This court was named for a surrounding balcony on which women
observed the annual celebration of Sukkot. The western gate of the court, approached
by a semicircular staircase, led to the Court of the Israelites, that portion
of the Court of Priests open to all male Jews. Surrounding the inner sanctuary,
the Court of Priests contained the sacrificial altar and a copper laver for
priestly ablutions. This court was itself surrounded by a wall broken with gates
and chambers. The Temple sanctuary building was wider in front than in the rear;
its eastern facade had two pillars on either side of the gate to the entrance
hall. Within the hall, a great gate led to the sanctuary, at the western end
of which was the Holy of Holies.

The Herodian Temple was again the
centre of Israelite life. It was not only the focus of religious ritual but
also the repository of the Holy Scriptures and other national literature and
the meeting place of the Sanhedrin, the highest court of Jewish law during the
Roman period. The rebellion against Rome that began in AD 66 soon focused on
the Temple and effectively ended with the Temple's destruction on the 9th/10th
of Av, AD 70.

All that remained of the Second Temple
was a portion of the Western Wall (Hebrew: ha
kotel ha-ma'aravi, also called the Wailing Wall), which continues to be
the focus of Jewish aspirations and pilgrimage. Made part of the wall surrounding
the Muslim Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque in AD 691, it returned to Jewish
control in 1967.